WEBVTT IFER: PEOPLE GAVE ME THREEANSWERS WHY OVER AND OVER AGAIN,HISTORY, ATMOSPHERE AND FOOD.THAT IS WHY THEY CHOSE IT TOCOME TO NEW ORLEANS.>> JUST THE HISTORY OF HERE ANDIT IS BEAUTIFUL.JENNIFER: A PICTURE OF NEWORLEANS WOULD NOT BE COMPLETEWITHOUT THE BACKDROP OF TOURISM.>> IT IS A VIBRANT PLACE, DURINGTHE DAY AND NIGHT AND SOMETHINGI LIKE TO BE A PART OF ANWITNESS.-- AND WITNESS. REPORTER: NEW ORLEANS DRAWING ADIVERSE CROWD OF VISITORS.>> IT IS SO DIFFERENT FROMCHINA.REPORTER: THAT RETURNS YEARAFTER YEAR.>> IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL.REPORTER: ART AND ARCHITECTUREAND ATMOSPHERIC PART OF WHATMADE NEW ORLEANS THE NUMBER FOURDESTINATION AMONG TRAVEL ANDLEISURE READERS,WHO HAVE ANAPPETITE FOR MORE NEW ORLEANS.>> I COME HERE FOR CRAWFISH,SMELL IT FROM A BLOCK AWAY.REPORTER: THEY LIST THE CHICAGOON TOP OF OTHER CITIES LIKECHICAGO, BOSTON, SAN FRANCISCOAND EVEN NEW YORK.IT'S NOT SUPRISING NEWS, TOPEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS, SELLINGTHE MULTI BILLION DOLLARINDUSTRY, OF TOURISM IN NEWPORTLAND.>> WE'RE SETTING RECORDS,TOURISM IS ON A ROLL.JENNIFER: EIGHT OUT OF THE 15CITIES ON THAT LIST WERE IN THESOUTH.THE NUMBER ONE BEST CITY

A popular travel magazine named New Orleans as one of the top destinations in the country for the fourth straight year. In their list of America’s best cities, "Travel and Leisure" magazine ranked New Orleans fourth out a list of their readers’ favorite 15 cities.

New Orleans earned the highest scores in the categories of celebratory atmosphere and food, according to Kristian Sonnier, with the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. He said the bureau tracks this specific list because the magazine reaches the same people New Orleans targets: tourists who travel often, stay longer and spend more money than most others.

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In 2016, Sonnier said New Orleans finally attracted more people and earned more money from tourism than it had before Hurricane Katrina, with 10.4 million visitors spending $7.4 billion in the city last year. He said the Travel and Leisure list backs up those numbers, ranking New Orleans higher than big cities from coast-to-coast.

“Beating out cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Portland, these are huge tourism destinations and geographically much, much bigger than us, so again, we're punching way above our weight and a great validation that all the things that we've said about New Orleans, the visitors to New Orleans are agreeing with us and voting for New Orleans,” Sonnier said.

Crime continues to be a concern when marketing the city, Sonnier said, but so far, it has not kept the number of visitors from increasing, year after year.

New Orleans was one of eight southern cities on the Travel and Leisure list, which named Charleston, South Carolina as the best city in America.

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